BOY IN SPACE Is One Of The Biggest Breakout Stars of 2020 Hitting 105 Million+ Streams | We Chat About New Single 'THERAPY' With NOTD & Everything From ADHD To Dungarees
Boy In Space (Robin Lundbäck) Closes out 2020 with a timely new single, “Therapy,” with NOTD The release is accompanied by a video that gives us major 90s nostalgia with its lo-fi vibes.
“Therapy” takes the artist’s innate talent for sincere songwriting and delivery to the next level as the rising artist laments “maybe I’m in need of therapy…” something we can all probably need right now. This song was born out of a summer of self-reflection for Boy In Space, and he is working on music for a new project for 2021. ‘Therapy’ follows previous singles, “Caroline”, “u n eye”, “On A Prayer” featuring SHY MARTIN, “7UP”, “Cold”, and “Drown”, which have all received support from Radio One including Adele Roberts (Best New Pop) and Scott Mills and had syncs on Love Island.
He has quickly become one of the biggest breakout artists of the past year, surpassing 105 million+ streams overall with just a handful of singles released since his independent emergence. He really engages and entrances with each subsequent release. Most recently, Boy In Space toured with Alec Benjamin, and he’s currently in the studio recording new music.
Therapy collaborator NOTD has accumulated more than 1.3 Billion streams. After getting their start remixing pop music’s elite (Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, Demi Lovato, etc.), NOTD went on to sign with UMG and release a slew of original hits including two top-40 singles ("So Close" and "I Wanna Know") on U.S. pop radio, one of which was also the #1 most played song on US Dance Radio in 2019. They toured the U.S. and Europe in 2019 with Zedd and were nominated for a 2020 iHeartMusic award for Dance Song of the Year.
With 105 million+ streams to date, Your music has been getting a lot of support and praise congratulations! You said you have always been involved in music, as your mum is a songwriter and your dad has been in several bands, but when did you get to the point where you took music seriously as a career… in the sense that you started to take action in making music consistently, building an audience and looking for a record deal etc. Could you talk to us about that stage of your journey?
It started very early. When I was about 12-13 year I knew I wanted to pursue music as a songwriter and also had dreams of being an artist. People probably thought I was just dreaming but I was dead set on it.
You used to sneak into your brother’s room, as he played all the cool bands, our older siblings often have an influence on our music tastes at a younger age. What bands did you consider “cool” at that time and how has your music tastes evolved since then?
Back then it was Blink-182, Sum 41 and Toto. I definitely evolved my music taste to be broader but I still love these bands like it’s the first time I heard them on cd.
“Therapy” is on the topic of mental health and wellbeing. You’ve said “maybe I’m in need of therapy” “I’ve been going through a lot of shit lately… What specifically have you been going through lately e.g. breakup? As this is what the song would suggest with lyrics like” My heart never seems to let you go” and have you come to any realizations while in therapy?
Lately, I’ve been going through some things. I recently got diagnosed with ADHD and with that I’m seeing a therapist to.help me cope:) The breakup part of the song doesn’t really have a deeper meaning.
In terms of your vocal styling, IT stays within a high pitch range, which doesn’t corollate with your speaking voice. Is staying in this falsetto range purely a stylistic choice? Could you tell us about this?
I’ve always been a fan of high pitched vocals so that was the way I sang when I was younger and I also think it came naturally to me. I remember being fascinated when hearing a Michael Jackson song and being told it was a man. The fact that you could be creatively free in that way was exciting.
How did the collaboration with NOTD come about? How did you find the experience of working with them? Do you prefer to work in teams? Who else do you want to collaborate with, top 3 acts?
It was very organic. We both were fans of each other and really wanted to write, so making that happen was really easy. Working with NOTD is effortless and fun. We click as individuals and just end up hanging out.
I like small teams.
Would love to collaborate with Beabadoobee, Dominic Fike and The kid Laroi.
‘Therapy’ HAS the lyrics “smoking trees up by the station just to ease my brain off you” & crazy acid makes it hard to see. Is this in reference to your drug use as a coping mechanism or just narrative lyricism or metaphors, could you talk us through these lyrics?
I think the smoking trees up by the station just painted a really depressing scene. I am heavily influenced by artists and music that would use this type of references, so I end up doing the same.
Acid makes it hard to see is a reference to crying so much that it burns your eyes just like acid would. It definitely could be read both ways though and I don’t mind people interpreting it the way they want to.
THE MUSIC video for ‘therapy’ shows you burying yourself in black bin bags in the woods. Is this a visual representation about feeling suicidal, burying a part of your old self, perhaps your more naïve-self dying, a symbolic rebirth? What was your intention with this aspect of the video concept?
The meaning behind that is to bury a part of yourself and leave that person behind when moving on toward a better life.
You’ve said that you like the 90’s which can be seen in your aesthetic. Do you make your owns styling choices? You chose to wear dungarees in a music video; why did you decide to two-strap them as opposed to the 90’s rule of wearing them one strapped & loose for a more casual baggy look?
Yes, I really enjoy all the creative aspects and with that comes styling. I just found those dungarees at a flee-market in my small town where I’m from and I just knew they would look awesome in a vid. The two straps just looked better at the shoot.
Your previous shows were cancelled due to Covid, as we were going to arrange a photoshoot in March around your May date in London, which did not come to pass. Lockdown has affected a lot of artists touring. Can we still see you perform November 19th in London? Is the gig still going ahead? Is it a socially distanced affair?
The situation is too fragile for a tour at the moment, but as soon as it’s possible I think we’ll be back on track.
How have you found lockdown personally? What was your lockdown situation and experience?
My lockdown situation has been quite different from others. In Sweden, there was never a stay at home lockdown so my life has been pretty normal through that lens but it’s been really frustrating just staying in the same spot for this long and not being able to perform.
In another interview, you mentioned looking for a good pizza place in New York. Where did you find the best pizza? What do you prefer Authentic Italian or American style pizza?
I actually never had the chance to get to a really amazing pizza spot, which hurts my soul deeply. I love authentic pizza but I think both of them have a time and place. American style pizza and Swedish style pizza is way better for hangovers and for watching movies. Authentic is defiantly better at a sit down with a glass of wine.
Thank you for a great Interview and for Sharing Your Experiences with us!
No problem!
